The Beatles had been greeted by the deafening roar of hundreds of screaming followers once they arrived within the United States for the very first time on today in historical past, Feb. 7, 1964.
“When the Beatles arrived in America, it was like seeing a new color for the first time,” a fan stated years later.
Pan Am Flight 101, a Boeing 707, touched down with John, Paul, George and Ringo — the Fab Four nonetheless recognized globally by their first names — on the lately renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City at 1:20 p.m. ET.
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America, reeling within the wake of the assassination of President John Kennedy simply 11 weeks earlier, was immediately intoxicated by Beatlemania.
“The pilot [rang] ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them,’” Paul McCartney stated in “The Beatles Anthology.”
Photo of the Beatles — from left to proper, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison — waving at crowds as they arrive at JFK Airport for his or her first U.S. tour on Feb. 7, 1964. (GAB Archive/Redferns)
“We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.'”
The band would soon dominate global pop music and, in many ways, reshape Western culture for generations to come.
“We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.'” — Sir Paul McCartney
“Pandemonium broke out among the stamping, banner-waving fans as The Beatles — John, Paul, George and Ringo — stepped from the plane,” The Daily Mirror of London wrote on its front page the following day, under the lead headline that screamed, “Yeah! Yeah! U.S.A.!”
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“I think the world has gone mad,” the story said, quoting a New York City police officer who was working crowd management on the airport.
The Liverpool lads had develop into superstars in Britain solely a yr earlier. Their arrival in America introduced Beatlemania to a whole new stage. It would quickly eat popular culture.
NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 7: Fans scream with pleasure on the arrival of The Beatles at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Feb. 7, 1964. (CBS through Getty Images)
The Beatles would show even larger within the United States than they had been within the United Kingdom.
“America was the best,” Ringo Starr stated in “The Beatles Anthology.” “It was a dream, coming from Liverpool.”
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The Lovable Mop Tops appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” from Midtown Manhattan two nights later, a landmark second in American cultural historical past.
“America was the best. It was a dream, coming from Liverpool.” — Ringo Starr
Their efficiency was seen by an estimated 73 million Americans, practically 40 p.c of your entire inhabitants of the United States on the time.
The Beatles quickly dominated U.S. radio and music charts.
The Top 5 Billboard hits for the week of April 4 had been “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me” — each song by the Beatles.
American television host Ed Sullivan smiles while standing with the Beatles on the set of his television variety series, New York, Feb. 9, 1964. Left to right, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Sullivan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney. (Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
The feat of one act owning the top five spots on the American charts has never been duplicated — or even approximated.
America’s obsession with the Beatles has never ended, nearly 54 years since they disbanded.
“Abbey Road,” the classic Beatles album released in 1969, was the 12th best-selling album in America — in 2022, according to Billboard.
The Beatles returned America’s embrace.
John Lennon played his prized 1958 Rickenbacker 325 when the Beatles first played “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964, from CBS’s Studio 50 in New York City. Three of the four band members are shown here (from left): George Harrison, Ringo Starr (drummer) and John Lennon. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
John Lennon moved to New York City in 1971. He was tragically killed outside his Manhattan home in 1980 by a deranged fan — leading to an instant outpouring of grief in New York and across the nation.
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“I play right here 4 to 5 instances per week and also you see individuals silently crying to themselves,” New York City musician Jules Avalon told Fox News Digital in December as he performed at Strawberry Fields, a corner of Central Park devoted to Lennon and the Beatles across the street from his murder site.
“‘Abbey Road,’ the basic Beatles album launched in 1969, was twelfth best-selling album in America in 2022, in response to Billboard.”
George Harrison was living in Los Angeles when he died in 2002.
McCartney and Starr continue to tour the United States.
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney attend the World premiere of “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years” at Odeon Leicester Square on Sept. 15, 2016 in London, England. (Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
Fans spontaneously serenaded McCartney with “Happy Birthday” last summer when he performed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on the eve of his 80th.
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It appears a new generation of American children will grow up with an appreciation of the Beatles’ sound and their impact on our national heritage.
John Lennon’s “music made individuals pleased,” Ethan Doyle, 12, of Philadelphia, told Fox News Digital in December outside the Dakota where the musician was murdered, accompanied by his mother, Monique, and brother Brodie, 9.
The entrance to The Dakota in Manhattan, where John Lennon was murdered in 1980. It’s a global pilgrimage site today. “This place radiates significance,” Ethan Doyle, right, 12, of Philadelphia, told Fox News Digital on Dec. 7, 2022, the eve of the anniversary of Lennon’s death. He’s pictured with brother Brodie and mom Monique Doyle. (Kerry J. Byrne/FoxNews Digital)
“This place radiates significance.”
At one point during McCartney’s MetLife show last summer, a couple and their three small children — perhaps none older than 8 or 9 — danced gleefully as McCartney performed “Love Me Do.”
The young children responded instinctively to the Beatles’ sound — much the way their grandparents did in 1964.
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